We will eventually get LTE. ABI says that 20 carriers will launch by the fourth quarter of 2010. Overall, the 4G market could have 150million subscribers, mostly in dense urban areas by the end of 2014. Those subscribers will be split between WiMAX and LTE depending on the locations and carriers.

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Some carriers may eventually switch from LTE (FDD) to the more spectrum-efficient TD-LTE. ABI further projects that by 2014, 87% of U.S. cellular operator traffic will be from smart phones and other connected computing devices. A huge part of the broadband expansion is shifting to mobile devices and the wireless networks as soon as the systems can handle the speeds and volumes. Check out ABI Research’s latest market data reports.

Further 4G coverage could be delayed according to Aircom International, a network planning and optimization company. Aircom thinks it makes sense from a capital expenditures point of view to implement HSPA+ to get near-4G speeds of up to 21 Mbits/s. HSPA+ uses the existing HSPA infrastructure and antenna systems, so it will provide near-4G performance with minimal new investment. For many carriers, this is the ideal solution for now, with LTE certainly to come in the future.

And where would the mobile Internet business be without Wi-Fi? Practically all mobile devices have it these days with more to come. ABI also expects Wi-Fi IC shipments to exceed 770 million units in 2010. That’s reaching Bluetooth chip levels. Most of these ICs will be of the faster 802.11n variety, and most of the volume is expected to be in smart phones with more going into laptops, netbooks, and other mobile devices.

On the tablet PC front, Apple reports that it has sold more than 2 million iPads in less than 60 days. Other tablet PCs in the wings include Asustek’s forthcoming EeePad with a 10-in. screen and Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system (OS). Both Acer and Dell are working on tablet PCs based on the Android OS. It’s definitely a hot new product category in keeping with the mobile-everything trend. With smart phones mitigating the need to carry a laptop everywhere and the tablets encroaching from the other direction, how will the laptop market be affected?